There are many elements of balance and posture that are relevant to the performance of a horse rider, including points of contact, leg and body position, weight distribution, and movement. Ideally a rider (and that rider's non-riding instructor, if applicable) would be completely aware of all of these elements at all times and would identify any that are not correct. In practice, however, it is very difficult for a rider to sense many of these elements, and over time, improper balance, poor posture and other undesirable habits may arise and become increasingly difficult to identify and address. While an instructor might observe a rider's position and posture, more subtle balance and weight distribution problems may be difficult to observe. For these reasons the need for more accurate measurement of balance and posture data has been recognized. Prior art systems, such as that described in US Patent Application Publication 2013/0280683 (Smith et al.) have attempted to collect a great deal of this data for use in a complex performance sensing system. Another approach, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,601 (Tannenbaum), involves the attachment of various sensors to the body of a rider. These prior art systems are cumbersome, expensive, and of questionable usefulness for the vast majority of practical equestrian training settings.
The posture, balance and weight distribution of a rider can be considered around three axes. One axis is parallel to the length of the horse (the X axis) where rotation on this axis would result in the rider leaning side to side (comparable to the “roll” of an aircraft). Another axis (the Y axis) is perpendicular to the length of the horse (parallel to the ground) and, comparable to the “pitch” of an aircraft, rotation around this axis would be reflected by the rider leaning forward or backwards. The third axis (the Z axis) would be vertical up the center of the horse (and the spine of the rider) and Z axis rotation would be reflected by a twisting motion of the rider (corresponding to the “yaw” of an aircraft).